A History Lesson on UFOs: From 1440 B.C.E to 1949 – Part 1

(English is not my native language, so apologize in advance for any grammar and spelling errors, as well as my lacking english vocabulary to formulate things as short and precise as possible)

Part 2: A History Lesson on UFOs: From 1950-1959

Part 3: A History Lesson on UFOs: From 1960-1969

The timeline you’ll find in this post is specifically made to be as comprehensive as possible, as I’m kinda a completionist and can’t help myself, sorry. I’ll cut it down to only include the most credible cases for another post at some point in the future.

This specific post consist mostly of links to videos. It’s basically a collection of videos from various channels, organized into an (hopefully) easy-to-navigate timeline, with a few links to other relevant sources scattered throughout.

I’m currently working on making two written timelines. One which will consist of only the most compelling and credible cases, and one which will consist of every single incident I’m able to find. Both timelines will consist of all kinds of sources, as well as a deep dive into the various cases.

However, that takes a lot longer to make, and since I don’t know how long at the moment, I figured I would start with sharing my full video timeline.

In the process of working on those timelines, I made this playlist:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIQnPT3IDXOHAnA1RQ48ArepKBBDeo-hB&si=5OAcBkVSeh_fwoYT

The only problem is that it is a huge playlist, with almost 2300 video and counting. So it’s probably somewhat annoying to navigate.

So to make navigation easier, the timeline in this post presents links to each case in the same chronological order as the playlist. This way you can jump to any point you desire on the playlist much easier. The playlist contains around 90%-95% of the cases from the written timeline

The playlist and this post includes feature length documentaries, small documentaries or informative videos, a lot of archive footage, episodes of various shows, podcasts, interviews, news footage, alleged UFO footage, and much much more.

I’ve written a few disclaimers, my reasoning behind the playlist and timeline, as well as some additional information at the bottom of the second and third parts.

The structure of this post mirrors how I strutured the playlist.

Introduction to the Basics of Ufology

Theories on the Phenomenon. Most Credible Cases. Creation of the UFO Stigma. Media Misinformation. Government Cover-Up & The Disinformation Campaigns.

This part is essentially for people who are new to the topic of UFOs. It’s kind of a “Ufology for dummies” section, covering the various aspects and angles of Ufology.

It offers different perspectives and theories, presents some quick synopses on some of the most credible cases and covers historical facts of the US government’s involvement in Ufology.

I think the information from all these videos combined are good to have in mind before heading into the actual timeline.

The 5 Observables

UFOs, not Aliens: The Difference and Why it Matters

The Phenomenon (Documentary by James Fox. There’s also Fox’s other documentaries like Out of the Blue and I Know What I saw, which I’ve chosen to place further down the playlist for various reasons. They’re older, but almost just as good in presenting a variety of some of the most credible cases)

Robert Hastings and the UFO Nuclear Connection

How the Goverment Manipulates Facts (Not really a video on UFOs. It’s included to give a perspective on how the government and the media sometimes work together to essentially mislead people)

How the CIA and Air Force Created the UFO Stigma

Project Blue Book, the UFO Propaganda Wing

Science & UFOs (2 Videos)

Beginners Guide to Disinformation in Ufology

UFO Government Files Declassified

United Nations UFO Disclosure

The Most Unsettling UFO Theory?

UFO Encounters: A Timeline – 1440 B.C.E to 1948

A lot of the more famous and/or most compelling and credible cases have more than one video attached to them, in order to cover the incidents as thoroughly as possible. However, it would be a very long post, if I were to link to all of the seperate videos covering a single case.

Instead I’ll link to the first video of the incident on my playlist and list the number of videos next to the link, so you’ll know which ones to look out for.

It’s not necessarily the best video on the incidents i’ll link to in this instance. Just the first video on my playlist. You’ll find the others by checking the next couple of videos on the playlist, as they’re all listed chronologically.

If you feel like there are cases missing, there is a good chance you’ll find them in one of the UFO adjacent topics on my playlist, which you will find a navigation guide to in part 3 of this post.

You will, for example, find most abductions cases in the UFO adjacent topics section, as I’ve mostly only included the more famous abduction cases on the actual timeline. The same with most cases from the Soviet Union.

Some of the earliest incidents on the timeline are linked to different segments of the same videos, as a lot of those encounters seems to only be covered in those videos on youtube, and videos covering those cases as the main topic has proven somewhat hard to find.

Most documentaries on this playlist are placed under their release year, unless they’re directly related to one of the UFO adjacent topics at the end or I couldn’t track down the release date and year.

Small disclaimers:

1) The chronology of this timeline is mostly by year, and not so much by the exact dates and months of the incidents. Only some of the incidents will be precise with what came before and after during those years, but really only the ones where the chronology of the dates matter the most. My written timeline will be much more accurate, and include specific dates.

2) A lot of the titles to the various incidents are just copy-pasted from the youtube videos. In the written timelines I’ll try to come up with shorter and less clickbaity titles for each case.

3) I’m still going through videos from various channels, to determine which to add, so there might be some events missing from the timeline. As I continue to add videos to the playlist, I will also continue to update this post whenever a new incident has been added.

Before the 20th century

I’ve included a few more incidents from before the 20th century on the written timelines. However, these are the only ones on my playlist, as these were apparently the only ones with videos on youtube.

Various

Classical Paintings That Appear to Contain UFOs (2 Videos) Medieval UFOs? The Story of the “Flying Ships” over Ireland

1440 B.C.E

UFO in Egypt, Annals of Thutmose III

592 B.C.E

The Book of Ezekiel’s UFO Sightings

74 C.E.

The Mithridatic Wars UFO Encounter

393 C.E.

Strange Objects Moving In the Sky During the Reign of Emperor Theodosis

1034

Nuremberg Chronicle

1053

Shen Kuo describe “An Object as a Bright as a Pearl Hovering over the City of Yangzhou”, China

1180

“A Flying Earthenware Vessel” Spotted in Kii Province, Japan

1235

General Yoritsune UFO Encounter, Japan

1322

Battle Between Pillars in the Sky, Uxbridge, England

1461

Object halv the size of the Moon Witnessed in Arras, France

1492

Christopher Columbus UFO Sighting

1561/1566

UFO Battles over Nuremberg, Germany in 1561 & Basel, Switzerland in 1566 (3 Videos)

1639

Massachusetts UFO Sighting

1665

UFO Battle Over Germany

1676

Edmund Halley’s UFO Sighting

1783

Four People Witness UFO, Windsor Castle, England

1800

The Baton Rouge Incident The Koyuk Visitors

1803

The Utsuro-Bune Encounter, Japan (3 Videos)

1806

The Chimney Rock Apparition

1808

The Kremlin UFO The Biskopsberga Incident

1810

Unusual Phenomenon over Brezeau

1812

Shapeshifting Phenomenon over Portsmouth, Virginia

1813

The New London Blue Lights

1853

Mass Sighting of Luminous Objects Dancing in the Sky Over College Campus

1865

Explosion in the Sky, Leaves Behind Mysterious Stone with hieroglyphics in it, Great Falls, Montana

1878

“A Strange Phenomenon” Farmers Encounter with an UFO, Denison, Texas

1886

Family Witness Bright Lights Illuminating Their House and Get Injuries, Maracaibo, Venuzuela

1892

Phantom Balloons Scare Russian Military

1893

Fishermen’s Encounter with an “Electric Monster”, Tacoma, Washington

1896-1897

Mystery Airship Sightings (2 Videos)

1897

The Aurora, Texas UFO Crash (3 Videos) Cigar-shaped UFO Abducting Cow

1900-1939

As with the “Before the 20th century” section, there is also a few cases excluded from this section, as I had only written sources I needed to expand upon with text for those specific cases. This is to be expected as television wasn’t really a thing before the 1940s, and especially before the 1930s.

Various

UFO Sightings From the 1900s to the 1930s

1904

Navy Ship Encounters UFOs, Near San Francisco

1907

UFO Explosion in Vermont

1911

The Abduction of Idella Ford

1912

Did UFOs Observe the Titanic Disaster?

1913

Hundreds See Fast Moving UFO, Lansing, Michigan Prospectors Encounter UFO and a Humanoid E.T, Badlands, Montana